


Let Me Hear

by QueenTrashbag



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Also implied anorexia, Boys Kissing, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Requited Love, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Acceptance, Self-Hatred, Someone grab your tissues, Unrequited Love, probably
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-04
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-04-29 20:11:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5141006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenTrashbag/pseuds/QueenTrashbag
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yamaguchi Tadashi has been bullied for a few months, his best solution to it is to ignore them all together.  But the words still hurt, so he does they only thing he can do to is take some control in his life.</p><p> </p><p>(Recently revised, fixing previous grammatical errors)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. But There Was No Rain

His alarm went off without fail at 6:30 am.  Yamaguchi Tadashi gently hit the off button.  He sat up, stretched, and climbed out of bed, lazily heading to the bathroom.  While he was washing his face, his stomach growled lowly.  Tadashi ignored it as he grabbed his toothbrush, placed a bit of toothpaste on the brush, and began to brush his teeth.  At that moment his phone buzzed.

Message received from _Unknown Number_

 _Hmm, they woke up early today,_ Tadashi thought as he opened the message.

He knew it would be a nasty message, it always was, but a small part of him hoped that one day the sender would realize how cruel they were and apologize.

**How could someone so ugly exist?**

Today was not that day.  Tadashi sighed and locked his phone.  Looking at his reflection he began to dissect his own face.  His eyes had bags under them, his cheeks looked sunken, his freckles….' ** _ugly_** ’.  He hated them.  His freckles were the reason he was always picked on as a child.  Those ugly freckles; if only he could make them disappear.  Would he still be ugly?  Probably.

“Tadashi dear, Kei-kun is here,” Mrs. Yamaguchi yelled up the stairs.

Was it 7:00 already? How long had Tadashi been standing in his bathroom?

“I’ll be down in a minute,” Tadashi called running to get his school uniform on.

He walked down the stairs while still adjusting his collar.  Tadashi saw Tsukishima Kei standing in the entrance way conversing with his mom.

“Tsukki, good morning,” Tadashi smiled.

Tsukishima looked at Tadashi, gave a quick smile which was quickly replaced with his usual expression.

“Did you sleep in Yamaguchi?” Tsukishima asked.

“Sorry Tsukki, I’ll try to sleep earlier,” Tadashi lied to his friend.

He didn’t want Tsukishima to know that he had been staring into a mirror for twenty minutes.  Mrs. Yamaguchi handed Tadashi a bento box and kissed him on the cheek, “Have a good day boys,”

“Bye mom,”

“Have a good day as well,”

The two boys walked towards Karasuno High School; it was not long before a conversation started up.

“This is the fifth time in two weeks you’ve overslept,” Tsukishima said in an even tone to hide his concern.

“Sorry Tsukki, I’ll try to be on time tomorrow,” Tadashi reassured him.

“Hmm,” Tsukishima nodded, “So what’s been keeping you up?”

“Wha-what?” Tadashi was slightly taken aback; he had hoped Tsukishima would have dropped the subject. 

Tsukishima stopped walking and turned to face Tadashi, “What has been keeping you up at night?” He repeated, emphasizing each word.

Tadashi wanted to tell Tsukishima about the messages he’s been receiving, but he was afraid of what Tsukishima might think of him, or really he was afraid of what Tsukishima would do to the person sending the messages.  Overall it seems like a better idea to ignore the messages all together.

“I’ve just been reading,” Tadashi answered.

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow but decided to let it go, “Come on Yamaguchi, we are going to be late,”

“Sorry Tsukki!”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“Okay, how about… Yamaguchi-san,” Towa-Sensei called Tadashi up to answer the math question.

Tadashi didn’t mind math, but he didn’t like going up to the board.  At least not anymore; every time he got an answer wrong he would get a message calling him stupid, if he got an answer right the message would call him an ugly nerd.  Either way the result was unpleasant.

“Hmm, it seems you made a few arithmetic errors,” Towa-Sensei commented.

Tadashi broke from his thoughts, he didn’t even realize that he was writing an answer, “Thank you Sensei,” Tadashi bowed his head and walked back to his seat.

Without fail his pocket buzzed.  A dour expression fell over Tadashi’s face; expectantly his pocket buzzed again.  Waiting for Towa-Sensei to turn around, Tadashi had his hand in his pocket.  When the coast was clear he took his phone out and saw he had two messages, one from his tormentor and one from Tsukishima.  He opened Tsukishima’s.

**You okay?**

Tadashi placed his phone back into his pocket and looked over to Tsukishima, who was watching Tadashi as well, and gave a smile as if to say ‘yes, I’m fine, thank you’.  Tsukishima gave a small nod and looked back to the front of the room.  He was always looking out for Tadashi, even though Tsukishima was rough and cold on the outside he let Tadashi see his caring, loving inside.  Maybe that was why he loved Tsukishima.  It seemed a bit cliché to be in love with your best friend, but in Tadashi’s case he had always loved Tsukishima.  Tadashi wasn’t sure exactly when he fell in love with Tsukishima, the earliest time he realized it was sometime in middle school. _I wish Tsukki could reciprocate my feelings, even for just a second._ The bell rang signaling lunch.  Tadashi grabbed his bento and walked towards Tsukishima, “Tsukki let’s have lunch together!”

“Shut up Yamaguchi,”

“Sorry Tsukki,” Tadashi laughed at their usual exchange

Tadashi’s pocket buzzed.

Two unread messages from _Unknown Number_

What could _they_ want now?

**How dumb could one person be?**

Ah, the one from earlier, and the most recent one was:

**Shut up you annoying kid!**

Suddenly Tadashi didn’t feel like having lunch with Tsukishima anymore.  His mood, that was once lifted, has plummeted once again.

“What did the text say?” Tsukishima asked in between bites of his lunch.

“Text?” Tadashi questioned.

Did Tsukishima know about the harassment?  There is no way, Tadashi had been careful to hide them from Tsukishima.

“Yeah, the text on your phone, what did it say?” Tsukishima inquired further.

“Oh um it-it was an e-mail,” Tadashi said looking down at his lunch.

It looked…ugly.

“Okay, and what did the e-mail say?” Tsukishima’s voice began to have a hint of annoyance; it was easy to tell that Tsukishima didn’t want to play this question game anymore.

“It’s nothing important Tsukki, I promise,” Tadashi smiled, “Oh Tsukki, I’m not really hungry, do you want some of my bento?”

“No thanks,” Tsukishima said, signaling the end of their previous discussion.

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“Bring it on!” Hinata yelled spiking the ball.

The ball bounced on the ground and flew into the air before coming back down to bounce a bit more.

“Yes!” Hinata and Kageyama cheered.

“Good job guys, okay next week we have a practice match with the alumni neighborhood team,” Coach Ukai stated, signaling the end of practice,

“Thank you!” The team bowed to Coach Ukai and Takeda-Sensei.

After changing, the group walked to the Foothills Store, chatting about various things.

“Yamaguchi-kun, what flavor of meat bun would you like?” Suga-san asked.

“Oh um, I’m not very hungry Suga-san, but thank you,” Tadashi’s stomach growled loudly giving away his lie.

“You sound hungry,” Suga-san gave a caring smile, “Is pork curry okay?”

“Yes Suga-san, thank you,” Tadashi blushed slightly.

“Yamaguchi, have you eaten at all today?” Tsukishima asked quietly, to not gain attention.

He hadn’t eaten on purpose; ever since he started receiving the cruel messages, he felt too upset to eat.  At least at first, eventually he stopped eating because he felt like he had some form of control. He wasn’t sure why, but it made him feel human.  It was a nice feeling especially when he was feeling so helpless lately.

“Yamaguchi-kun! Here’s your meat bun!” Hinata ran up to Yamaguchi to hand him the snack.

“Thank you Hinata,” Tadashi accepted the bun with a smile.

While handing Tsukishima his bun, Hinata commented, “You know, you should really eat more especially now since you practice really hard,”

Tadashi was unsure how it was possible for Hinata to overhear his and Tsukishima’s conversation.  Maybe Hinata was more perceptive, than Tadashi originally thought.

“Sorry, you just seemed a bit wobbly during practice and then your stomach growled, I just kinda assumed that you needed more snacks,” Hinata looked down bashfully.

Oh, good, he just thought that Tadashi wasn’t eating enough instead of not eating at all.  Tadashi gave a small sigh of relief, “I’ll keep that in mind, thank you Hinata,” Tadashi took a small bite from the bun as if to show some effort.

Hinata flashed a bright smile before Kageyama called out to him, “Hinata, you dumbass, you took my meat bun didn’t you?”

“Maybe,” Hinata laughed.

“I swear if you ate it, you dumbass,” Steam came out of Kageyama’s ears due to anger.

“Calm down Yamayama-kun, I just wanted to give you yours,” Hinata ran over to Kageyama.

Tadashi watched the scene unfold; he smiled lightly as Kageyama accepted the bun by patting Hinata’s head and how Hinata happily rubbed his head into Kageyama’s hand.  Tadashi wondered if the rumors were true; he had heard that the duo were dating and after observing them, he believed it might be true.  It was nice in a way, to see two of his teammates fall in love, _Could I experience something like that?_ Tadashi wondered before walking with Tsukishima towards their homes.

“Bye bye,” Suga-san waved to the group as it separated.

“See you tomorrow!” Tanaka gave a toothy grin.

“Be sure to study,” Ennoshita commented, which made Tanaka and Noya lose their souls, and give the team a good laugh.

As Tadashi and Tsukishima were walking, Tadashi’s phone vibrated.  He wanted to ignore it, but something inside him wanted to see if it was nothing more than a notification.  He looked over at Tsukishima and saw how the taller boy was listening to his headphones and walking slightly in front of Tadashi.  Going against his better judgement, Tadashi pulled his phone out and opened the message:

**Why do I have to see your ugly face every day?  I just want to barf! I’m surprised you haven’t been run over by a truck you are so ugly! If you didn’t come to school tomorrow I would be so happy!**

A drop of water fell on the phone screen; Tadashi looked up, but it was not raining.  Water continued to fall on his phone and hand, but it was not raining.


	2. "Okay?" "Okay," The Fault in Our Volleys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Too soon for the chapter title? To be honest I defer melancholy with comedy, and this was the best I could come up with for a chapter title. Speaking of the chapter, this one will be in Tsukishima's point of view. I am always worried that I will not write the characters correctly by having them do something out of character, and having a snarky, emotional deprived, secretly caring teenager is no small feat. So please let me know if there is anything I can do to keep the characters true to their character. (Awkward sentence is awkward.) 
> 
> That being said, enjoy!

Tsukishima Kei had noticed that his friend had stopped walking, turning around he saw Yamaguchi staring at his phone with tears streaming down his face.  Worry washed over him, Kei walked briskly over to Yamaguchi, and snatched his phone out of his hands.  Kei began to read the message and his usual dismissive expression twisted to disgust as he read the message.  Yamaguchi began to protest, but Kei started to read the past messages.  They seemed to go on for months.

“Yamaguchi, how long have you been getting these messages?”

“I-I –Tsu-Tsukki sorry,” Yamaguchi sobbed.

“Don’t apologize; just tell me how long you have been getting these messages?” Kei tried to keep a steady voice as he pocketed Yamaguchi’s phone, and tried to steady the boy.

“I- uh- a few-few months,” Yamaguchi choked out while holding on to Kei.

Normally Kei would not show or allow this type of affection in public, or in private for that matter, but this is no normal problem.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Kei tried to look Yamaguchi in his watery eyes.

“I – sorry!” Yamaguchi sobbed into Kei’s shoulder.

 Kei sighed.  He knew it was useless to try to get information about the subject, while Yamaguchi was so upset.

“Yamaguchi, do you want to go home or do you want to stay at my house tonight?”

“Ah-um,” Yamaguchi started to take deep breaths, “I – want to go-go home,”

Kei didn’t like that answer but he knew better than anyone that Yamaguchi was a stubborn person, and if he wanted to go home, he would go home.  Kei sighed but nodded his head, “Okay, let’s go home,” he placed an arm around the sobbing boy’s shoulder and started to guide him down the street.

“Yamaguchi, when you get home, I want you to wash up; eat something, even if it’s a snack; and get some sleep okay?” Kei glanced at Yamaguchi.

“Okay Tsukki,” he quietly replied.

“And I’ll be at your house tomorrow morning at seven okay?”

“Okay,”

Kei turned a corner and at once the two boys were in front of Yamaguchi’s house.  He looked down at Yamaguchi, who still had a red face; puffy eyes; and some serious sniffles.  Kei wiped the remaining tears from Yamaguchi’s face.

“Don’t worry about this anymore,” Kei tried to reassure his best friend.

“Thank you Tsukki,” Yamaguchi gave a small bow to show his gratitude, “I’ll see you in the morning,” he gave the best smile he could muster and walked into his house, “I’m back,” he shouted.  Kei could hear the remarks from Yamaguchi’s family before the door was closed.

Kei walked down the street until he found a bench.  He slammed himself on the bench, placing his head in his hands, _Why, why,why? How did this happen?  Why did this happen?  Why did I find this out this way?  Tadashi_ , _I want to love you, but I want you to love yourself first._


	3. 1:20 am - Tadashi

Tadashi didn’t have his phone, _Tsukki must still have it_. Tadashi looked on his wall; the clock read 11:45 pm.  He knew he should have been asleep by now, but something was keeping him up.  All he could think about was Tsukishima reading the messages from his tormentor.  Did they send another message?  Did Tsukishima reply to them?  What might have he said?  Probably something snarky.  _Actually I really hope he didn’t reply at all,_ the last thing Tadashi wanted was for the harassment to increase, or for Tsukishima to become the subject of the provocation.

  _He’s been hurt too many times already._ The thing about being Tsukishima’s best friend is that Tadashi knew how his mind worked.  Tadashi knew about the betrayal he felt from his brother all those years ago.  Tadashi saw it with his own eyes.  Tadashi knew how truly broken Tsukishima was.  He knew that out of all the people Tsukishima knew over the years, Tadashi was the only one he trusted.  Even Akiteru; Tsukishima may respect his brother, but he is still trying to rebuild his trust.  Tadashi shook his head trying to clear it, _Tsukki will be okay, he can take care of himself._

Tadashi rolled on his stomach, hoping the pressure of being pushed upon will relieve the knotted feeling.  Unsure of the cause, he blamed it on his anxiety of what Tsukishima would do.  It’s possible Tadashi wasn’t being honest with himself.  After coming back home he only took a half of Tsukishima’s advice; well maybe less than.  When he greeted his parents they questioned why his face was so red and wet.  Tadashi blamed an intense practice on his appearance, and stated that he needed to wash up.  When asked if he wanted leftovers from dinner, Tadashi claimed he ate with the team.  Which, technically, was true.  Tsukishima told Tadashi to eat when he got home, but Tadashi was more worried about bathing so he could wash his day away.  Besides, forcing down food probably wouldn’t have been a good solution to his problems; at least, that’s what Tadashi thought.  Plus he had eaten plenty today, he had that meat bun after practice, he had that bento for lunch.  _Did I eat that bento?  I think I did, or at I think I ate most of it._ Tadashi’s memory was a little blurry, so maybe he didn’t eat three meals today; he still at enough.  _Besides no one’s perfect, I can miss a few meals and be okay.  I’ll just have to eat more tomorrow._  Happy with his resolve, Tadashi moved to look at the clock. 

1:20 am.

With a soft groan Tadashi smashed his face back into his pillow; he could already tell that it is going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know this chapter is crazy short, but I just wanted to establish a few things before the next chapter. Which by the way is going to be much longer and have everybody's favorite older brother making an appearance, so I hope that will make up for the super short chapter.


	4. The Rage of Tsukishima Kei

The messages made Kei sick.  He had been staring at Yamaguchi’s phone screen for what seemed like hours; the antipathy mocking him.

**Ugly, nerd, add no self-esteem and you’ve hit the lame kid trifecta**

Where is this coming from?  Who would want to hurt somebody – Yamaguchi – so much?  What would be the point?  Kei may not have been completely innocent when it came to making fun of people, he teased Kageyama and Hinata every day during practice, but he would never want to drive them to tears.  He isn’t that heartless.  The person sending these messages is heartless.

**Why do you always practice so hard at volleyball? It’s not like you will ever play**

Wrong. They were all wrong. Most of the messages consisted of lame insults with a few painful ones sprinkled in.  As Kei was scrolling up towards the beginning of the messages he noticed something.  First the messages started in October, meaning that Yamaguchi has been dealing with this person for about five months; second Yamaguchi tried to defend himself, but gave up after a week of getting the messages; and third the first message was about Kei.

**Leave Tsukishima-san alone, he can’t be mine if you are all over him**

Kei checked the date it was sent, and tried to remember if anyone had confessed to him during that time.  It wasn’t unusual to get two or three confessions in a month (“Why are you so popular?” Hinata would yell).  Kei tried to remember if a girl confessed more than once.  A few came to mind.  Finding out who was sending these messages was going to be harder than Kei thought, but he knew at least two things: _they_ were a girl and clearly she still had a crush on Kei, or at least she resented Yamaguchi for Kei not dating her.

Kei’s eyes were dry, and he could feel himself being overcome with sleep.  He looked at the clock, 1:20 am, he needed to sleep, but he couldn’t. When Kei closed his eyes all he could see was tears falling off of Yamaguchi’s face, and then he was washed with anger.  Having someone he cared about feel so helpless, made Kei want to punch a hole in the wall.  He never wanted Yamaguchi to feel that way again.

A soft knock drew Kei out of his thoughts, “Yes?” he was afraid that he had woken up his mother.  Most wouldn’t know it, but Kei got his attitude from her.

The door opened to reveal Akiteru, “Hey Kei, you having some trouble sleeping?”

“Kind of.  Nii-san, what would you do if the person you’re pretty sure you’re in love with, is being harassed to the point of hurting themselves?”

Kei’s question threw Akiteru off.  Completely. Akiteru didn’t even know that Kei was in love; is he even old enough to be in love?

“Um, you ‘love’ someone?”

“Yeah, at least I’m pretty sure I do, but what would you do?” Kei needed an answer, and he felt that he really needed another opinion; one he could be sure of.

  
“Oh um, well, I would stand up for them and-and I would make sure that the person I loved never felt the need to hurt themselves,” Akiteru gave the best advice he could, given the amount of information he did not know.

“Okay; and how would you make sure that the person didn’t do anything drastic?” Kei nodded, looking for further guidance.

“Uh hmm, well I would stay by their side and let them know they I’m here for them,” what could possess Kei to ask such questions?

“Alright, that’s what I thought,” Kei wrote a few things down.

“Kei, if you don’t mind me asking, what made you want to ask these questions?”  Akiteru was excited at the prospect of his little brother having a crush, but he was unsure how he felt about the person being hurt like Kei was describing.

Kei knew his brother would ask, and he figured that he shouldn’t lie to Akiteru, but he didn’t want to tell him that his paramour was Yamaguchi. At least, not yet, “A person I care about has been harassed, and I think it may have been my fault,”

“Kei….” Akiteru sat down next to his brother, “Don’t blame yourself for other people’s actions.  The people hurting the person you love are the ones to blame; don’t put yourself on their level,” he placed his hand on Kei’s shoulder to comfort him.

Kei looked at his brother, when did he become so level-headed? “I think you are right Nii-san,”

“Is there anything else you want advice about?” Akiteru felt it would be best to not force Kei to tell him anything.

Kei paused and thought carefully, “What would you do if the people harassing the one you love are girls?”

“Well girl-on-girl violence is pretty common, the best way to deal with it is for your ‘loved one’ to show the other girls that she is not bothered by their harassment,” Akiteru never dealt with such _jealously_ in high school, and in college he had a few girls confess to him, but he didn’t have a serious relationship.

“I imagined that would be the answer,” Kei yawned, “Thank you Nii-san,”

“Anytime, get some sleep okay?” Akiteru smiled and left his little brother’s room.

He was right about one thing, Kei needed some sleep.

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Sleep did not come, Kei tossed and turned all night. And when he was able to sleep his dreams were plagued with Yamaguchi crying and yelling at Kei saying things like, “It’s all your fault! If you weren’t my friend, I wouldn’t be suffering!” Needless to say when Kei’s alarm went off he felt like a zombie.  The sound ‘ugh’ couldn’t accurately describe how he felt.

“Good morning dear,” his mother greeted him in the kitchen.

“Good morning,” Kei greeted back, grabbing some breakfast.

“Are you feeling alright?” she looked at his sunken features.

“Yes, I just didn’t get much sleep last night,” Kei admitted.

“Well, then maybe you should start drinking hot tea before you go to bed,” his mother suggested.

“That might be a good idea, thank you,” Kei left the conversation at that, not wanting to explain _why_ he didn’t get any sleep, “Goodbye Okaa-san,”

“Goodbye sweetie, have a good day!”

With those words of encouragement, Kei left his house and walked towards Yamaguchi’s.  He could only hope that Yamaguchi got more sleep than he did.  While Kei was walking he started to come up with a plan of how Yamaguchi should deal with the girl’s wrath.  He should definitely come to class smiling; just to annoy the message’s sender from last night.  Also, not that Kei would ever admit it, but Yamaguchi had a great smile.  Oh yeah, and Kei should probably give Yamaguchi his phone back. 

It wasn’t long until Kei arrived at Yamaguchi’s house, with a knock on the door he waited until Yamaguchi himself opened the door, “Tsukki! Good morning!” Yamaguchi said cheerfully.  He had dark circles under his eyes and had a slightly vacant expression.  He must not have gotten as much sleep as Kei had hoped.

“Good morning Yamaguchi,” Kei gave his version of a cheerful reply, “Are you ready?”

“Yep, just let me grab my bag,” Yamaguchi left momentarily, saying goodbye to his mother and walking out the door.

“Oh here,” Kei handed Yamaguchi his cell phone.

“Oh, thanks,” He stared at it intensely, “Um did you read anymore of the messages?”

“…yes,” _No need to lie to him,_ Kei thought.

“All of them?”

It was becoming clear that Yamaguchi didn’t tell Kei about the messages at first, because he wanted to hide something.

“Yes, every one,” even if they all made Kei gag in disgust.

“Oh, so then you saw….” Yamaguchi trailed off.

“The first one and how it was about me?” Kei finished for Yamaguchi.

Yamaguchi’s shocked face confirmed Kei’s suspicions, “You didn’t want to tell me about the messages, because you didn’t want me to be at blame,”

“Sorry Tsukki! At first I thought I could deal with their bullying,”

“Her,” Kei corrected.

“Wha-what?” Yamaguchi was thrown off guard.

“The person sending the messages, she’s a girl who confessed to me in the past five months,” Kei told Yamaguchi everything he concluded from the night before.

“Yeah, I kinda guessed that it was something like that,”

“Oh right, when we get to school today, the best thing you can do is smile and act like you aren’t bothered. Also if you want, I can block that number on your phone,”

“You mean you haven’t already?” Yamaguchi cracked a mischievous smile.

Kei looked away to hide his blush, “Shut up Yamaguchi,”

Chuckling Yamaguchi gave a, “Sorry Tsukki!”

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It wasn’t until classes had ended that something interesting happened.  Kei checked his locker and found a note.  It was pink and smelled like a certain perfume.

**Tsukishima-kun, please meet me before clubs start behind the school. <3**

_Gross, why would anyone think this is cute?_ Kei grimaced.

“Something wrong Tsukki?” Yamaguchi asked.

“No, just another confession letter,” Kei sighed closing his locker and started walking towards the gym, “I’m supposed to meet her at the back of the school, so I’ll drop you off at practice before I go to meet her,” Kei explained.

“Tsukki you don’t have to do that,” Yamaguchi tried to reason.

“I know, I want to do it,” Kei said leading Yamaguchi to practice.

“Thank you Tsukki!” Yamaguchi flashed a genuine smile.

 _Damn he looks so cute,_ Kei thought, “It’s not any different from usual,”

“I guess, but you usually don’t say you will accompany me,” Yamaguchi pondered.

It was rare for Kei to not have a reply, but if anyone could render him speechless it was Yamaguchi, “Shut up Yamaguchi,”

“Sorry Tsukki,” Yamaguchi said out of habit.

As the boys approached the gym, Kei saw Yamaguchi off, and started towards the back of the school.  There he saw a girl, from what he could tell she was an average height and had pretty face that was enhanced with makeup.  She seemed to be looking at a tree that her friend was hiding behind.

“Ahem,” Kei got the girls’ attention.

As she turned to look at him, Kei immediately recognized her as Kujikawa Haruka.  She had confessed to Kei a few times already, claiming to never give up until he reciprocates her affection.

“Ah! Tsukishima-kun, you came!” She smiled.

“It would have been rude to not show up,” Her persistence may have been annoying, but there was no reason to be mean to the girl.

“Oh Tsukishima-kun you are so kind. Please, go out with me,”

Kei sighed, he needed to be gentle, “Thank you for the offer, but the answer is no.  You are very nice, but I’m not looking for a relationship right now,”

Kujikawa did not like that answer, and as far as Kei could tell, neither did her friend, “Is it because of him?” Her voiced wavered with anger.

“I’m sorry?” Kei wasn’t sure exactly who ‘him’ was but he had a good guess.

“It’s all because of him.  If he wasn’t around you all the time, you could--” Kei cut off her jealous rage.

“By him, do you mean Yamaguchi Tadashi?”

Her face went red, “Yes,”

“I see, goodbye,” Kei was finished with the conversation.

“Wha-wait, Tsukishima-kun!” She grabbed Kei’s arm, “Why would you want to hang out with that-that loser?” 

If Kei had no self-control he would have pushed her off of him, but he knew better, “Pathetic,”

“What?” Her grip loosened.

“You’re pathetic; and stop sending Yamaguchi those messages, it makes you look desperate,” Kei took this opportunity to escape.

“…” Kujikawa fell silent; her friend ran out from her hiding place to yell at Kei, but he was out of ear shot.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“Ah, Tsukishima! Welcome to practice, get changed and start warming up!” Coach Ukai called out as Kei entered the gym.

“Yes sir,” Kei replied going to change.

“Grr, hey Tsukishima! Why were you late today?” Tanaka yelled.

“A girl confessed to me Senpai,” He might be able to get some entertainment out of this exchange.

“A confession? That’s the third one this month!” Tanaka bellowed.

Flashing a smug grin, Kei replied “I can’t help it if I’m so popular Senpai,”

Between Tanaka yelling out of rage, and Daichi yelling to get his team under control, Kei was able to enjoy himself.

In between sets, Kei was able to briefly talk to Yamaguchi, “Hey Yamaguchi, you want to go out tomorrow?”

“Of course Tsukki!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, I'm surprised it took me this long to have a character cuss since I could make a sailor cover his ears normally. But that's not what is important, you know what's important? Akiteru. And spoiler alert, he'll be making another appearance in this story, and he will continue to be "Brother Of The Year". Speaking of the story, whoo boy was this chapter a butt! Okay so I was a bit unsure how I wanted to have Tsukishima and Haruka's scene to play out, since I wanted her to have more of a background presence than a "Here I am, now bow down" kind of presence. If that makes any sense; I hope it does. But over all, I'm happy with how it came out. Also did you guys like her name? Kujikawa Haruka; took her last name from Rise Kujikawa in Persona 4, and her first name from Haru in Free! ( I am fans of both). Oh yes and in case someone asks, Yamaguchi did eat in this chapter, Tsukishima made sure of it.  
> Okay now, real talk, next chapter will be the date episode. Yes you read right, the date episode. Get excited. See ya'll next week!


	5. I am your Tweek and you are my Craig

Yamaguchi Tadashi was a bit anxious.  He had been wondering what Tsukishima meant by “hanging out” all day.  He could be over thinking things, since he and Tsukishima hangout all the time; but normally Tsukishima doesn’t ask.  

 _Could he be planning something?_ Tadashi thought as he was taking his books out of his locker, and putting them into his bag.  Tadashi wasn’t sure why he was worrying over something like hanging out with his best friend; so he decided to ignore his distress and wait for Tsukishima to get his books.  He seemed a bit more… out of it?  No, that wasn’t right; he seemed to be focusing on something intensely.

“Um… Tsukki?”

“Hmm? What is it?” Tadashi pulled Tsukishima out of his thoughts.

“I was just wondering if you were ready to go to club?”

“Oh yeah; let’s go Yamaguchi,”

Tadashi followed him, occasionally glancing at Tsukishima’s face.  It was obvious that Tsukishima was still lost in thought since he almost bumped into Hinata.

“Ack!  Hey, watch where you’re walking Tsukishima!” Hinata stood in a defensive stance.

“Sorry, I didn’t see you all the way down there,” Tsukishima gave a snarky retort.

Hinata hissed, and Kageyama placed a protective arm over him.  Tadashi couldn’t tell if Kageyama was glaring or just staring at Tsukishima; all his expressions kind of looked the same.

“Uh guys, let’s not fight in the hallways,” Tadashi tried diffuse the situation.

Looking at Tadashi, Hinata answered, “Yamaguchi is right, let’s not fight on a Saturday,”

“Yamaguchi said no fighting in the hallway, not on a Saturday dumbass,” Kageyama scoffed while still holding on the shorter boy.

“It’s the same concept Yamayama-kun!” Hinata went to grab Kageyama’s hand.

Tsukishima sneered as he walked away, “Come on Yamaguchi,”

“Ah, coming Tsukki,” Tadashi said, leaving the freak duo behind.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“Okay, I know everyone is excited for the weekend, but on Monday I want everyone to be ready for a longer practice.  Other than that, have a good weekend and I’ll see you all on Monday morning,” Coach Ukai said with a smile.

“Thank you,” The Karasuno volleyball team bowed, and then went to change.

“So Tsukki, what do you want to do today?” Tadashi asked while changing his shirt.

“There’s a new café that opened, and I heard that they have homemade fries that get a bit… soggy,” Tsukishima gave a sassy smile.

“Soggy fries?” Tadashi’s eyes twinkled.

“Just the way you like them,” Tsukishima gave a silent laugh when he noticed that Tadashi was drooling.

“It sounds perfect Tsukki,” Tadashi wiped his mouth.

“Then finish changing, and we can go,” Tsukishima leaned on his locker door, eyeing Tadashi.

Tadashi nodded feverishly and began to quickly change his gym pants back into his school pants, “Okay Tsukki, let’s go!”

“Right,” Tsukishima began to walk out of the club room.

“Bye everyone!” Tadashi said, with Tsukishima waving as well.

“Bye,” the team chimed.

Tadashi skipped outside the club room, “I haven’t had fries in forever,” he smiled.

“I thought you would like this place,” Tsukishima responded.

Tadashi laughed, “You thought right Tsukki!”

He could have sworn that Tsukishima was blushing, but it was hard to tell because he was looking away Tadashi.

“So where is this café?” Tadashi asked.

“Right around this corner,” Tsukishima said as the two rounded the corner.

Tadashi saw a cutely decorated building, “It’s French inspired,” Tsukishima explained.

“That must mean, that they have a lot of desserts,” Tadashi speculated.

“Most likely,” Tsukishima commented.

“So then they may have strawberry shortcake,” Tadashi inquired.

“Possibly,” Tsukishima had a ghost of a smile as he opened the door for Tadashi and followed him inside, “Ah, yes, two please,” he said to the hostess.

Tadashi was in awe of the décor inside, it was painted various pastels, mirrors and paintings graced the walls, vases with beautiful flowers were placed on each table. 

“This place really is pretty,” Tadashi commented.

“I’ve seen prettier things,” Tsukishima mumble to himself.

“Huh? What did you say?” Tadashi asked.

“I asked what you wanted a drink,” Tsukishima covered for himself.

“Oh, um, water will be fine,” Tadashi answered as he sat down.

“Hmm, okay,” Tsukishima waited for the waitress, and order for the two when she arrived, “Two waters and we will share a plate of your french fries,”

“Okay, I’ll get those to you right away,” the waitress gave a canny look as she walked away.

 _What was that about_ , Tadashi wondered, “Hey Tsukki – ” he was going to ask what the waitress’s look was about, but when he looked over at his friend Tadashi saw that Tsukishima was spaced out again. 

If he didn’t know any better, Tadashi would have guessed that Tsukishima was dreamily looking at him, but that’s just silly.

“Tsukki?” Tadashi tried to get his attention.

“Hmm?” Tsukishima perked up.

“Are you okay, you have been spacing out all day,”

“Yeah, I’ve just had a lot on my mind,”

Tadashi wasn’t buying it, “What are you thinking about?”

Tsukishima paused, and pondered what to say next, “I suppose I was thinking about today,”

Before Tadashi could question further the waitress placed the drinks and a plate of fries in front of the two, “Ah, thank you,” he said as she left.

He grabbed a fry and took a bite, “Mmm,” he moaned, as Tsukishima took a sip of his water.

“You should have some too,” Tadashi offered, holding out a fry for Tsukishima.

He took it and bit into it.

“Good right?” Tadashi smiled.

“Yeah, we are going to have to come back sometime,” Tsukishima confirmed.

“Absolutely.  Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said that the fries get soggy,”

“I told you,” Tsukishima grabbed a few more fries.

“We are going to have to try their strawberry shortcake,” Tadashi cracked a smile.

“Definitely,”

The boys chatted for a while, munching slowly on the fries, it was not long before Tadashi pushed the remainder of the fries to Tsukishima, “You can have the rest Tsukki,”

“Are you sure?” Tsukishima inquired.

“Yeah, I-I’ve had too many,” Tadashi looked away from Tsukishima’s judging gaze.

“I would say the opposite,” Tsukishima leaned forward and lowered his voice, “I know you have been eating less and less lately, a few months ago you would have eaten all of these fries and then some by yourself,” his voice was laced with worry.

Tadashi knew he was right, completely right, but he couldn’t admit it to himself.

“I’m just worried about you,” Tsukishima’s words made Tadashi’s heart swell, “Look, I’m not going to force you to do something you don’t want to, but I also don’t want you to hurt yourself,” Tsukishima leaned back in his chair.

Tadashi was nearly brought to tears as he heard what Tsukishima had to say, “Tsukki, I‘m sorry, I didn’t want you to worry,”

Tsukishima handed Tadashi a napkin, “I’ll always worry about you,” he then mumbled something.

Taking the napkin, Tadashi replied, “Thank you Tsukki, I’ll try not to be a burden,”

Tsukishima shook his head as he stood up and walked over to Tadashi, holding out his hand, to help the boy up.  Tadashi took his hand, and stood; Tsukishima then gripped Tadashi’s hand as they walked to the front of the restaurant.  Tsukishima payed the bill, “Keep the change,” and the two left the restaurant.

“Tsukki, you didn’t have to pay…. Um where are we going?” Tadashi asked, when Tsukishima didn’t answer him at first.

“My house,” Tsukishima clarified. 

The walk was brisk and silent, from what Tadashi could see Tsukishima had a stony expression, he looked like he had something important he wanted to say.  Tadashi decided to wait until the boys were at Tsukishima’s house, before he asked what was wrong.  By the time the boys got to Tsukishima’s Residence, Tadashi thought hours had passed all while Tsukishima was holding his hand, pulling him along.

“I’m back,” Tsukishima called opening the front door.

“P-pardon the intrusion,” Tadashi uttered after him.

“Welcome back, did you boys have a good day?” Mrs. Tsukishima asked.

“Yes ma’am,” Tsukishima answered while taking off his shoes, “We will be in my room,” he rushed up the stairs with Tadashi in tow.

“Okay, you boys have fun,” Mrs. Tsukishima chuckled.

As the boys entered Tsukishima’s room Tadashi walked in first, as Tsukishima closed the door behind them.  Tadashi turned to face him to ask a question that had been eating at him since they left the restaurant.  But he was stopped when he saw the look on Tsukishima’s face; he had a serious expression as he looked at Tadashi.  Gaining a little bit of courage, Tadashi swallowed before he finally asked his question, “Tsukki, why do you have expression? What is bothering you?”

“Yamaguchi, ever since I learned about the bullying, I’ve been so _angry,_ ”

“Tsukki, I understand why you would be mad at me, but – ”

“I’m mad at myself!” Tsukishima yelled furiously.

_What?_

“I couldn’t protect you; I let you get hurt,”

“Tsukki, you didn’t know,”

“I should have been able to figure it out!” Tadashi flinched; Tsukishima seemed like he wanted to punch a wall, or at least something close, “Especially since I lo-,”Tsukishima caught himself.

“You ‘lo’?” Tadashi asked, “What does that mean?”

“Nothing Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima’s face was bright red either with embarrassment or anger, Tadashi wasn’t sure which.

“No, Tsukki, please tell me; I feel terrible for not telling you about my secret, I don’t want you to feel the same way about yours,” Tadashi spoke truthfully.

“I don’t think I can,” Tsukishima came up with an excuse.

“Please! Tsukki, you know I would never judge you; I love you,” The last part slipped out, Tadashi covered his mouth as he soon as he said it.

“What did you say?” Tsukishima questioned.

“Uh…not judging you?” Tadashi tried to cover his slip up.

“No the last part, you said that you loved me,” Tsukishima reassured himself.

“I uh…um,” Tadashi was at a loss for words, his cheeks and tips of his ears were stained a bright red.

“I’m glad to hear it,” relief washed over Tsukishima’s face.

At that moment, it started to click in Tadashi’s mind, when Tsukishima said that he ‘lo’, he had meant to say that he ‘loved’ Tadashi, “That’s what you were going to say, weren’t you?” Tadashi asked.

“What was I going to say?” Tsukishima gave a flirtatious smile.

“You were going to say, that you loved me,” Tadashi enunciated the last few words.

As he said that, Tadashi couldn’t help but smile.  His greatest fantasy was coming true; if he was dreaming, he was going to be super pissed. The look on Tsukishima’s face seemed to prove to Tadashi, that he was in fact awake, and this moment was real.

“I love you,” The words rolled off of Tsukishima’s tongue.

Tadashi’s excitement got the better of him as he jumped to grab Tsukishima’s hands and whimsically repeat ‘I love you’ over and over.

Tsukishima chuckled, “I love you,” he would always reply.

Eventually the two calmed down enough to look at each other in their eyes, taking in the moment, until Tadashi moved his hands upwards towards Tsukishima’s face.  Tsukishima let his hands hover over Tadashi’s waist, unsure what to do with them, he began to lean forward and tilt his head to the side.  Tadashi lifted his head upward, and right as their lips were about to touch, Tsukishima’s glasses bumped into Tadashi’s face, “Maybe we should take these off,” Tadashi laughed, as Tsukishima threw them on his bed. 

“Let’s try this again,” This time Tsukishima placed one hand gently on Tadashi hip, and his other hand under Tadashi’s chin, tilting his head up and to the side.  Tadashi fluttered his eyes closed, and as their lips brushed against each other, Mrs. Tsukishima called up the stairs, “Boys, I have snacks ready!”

Both boys groaned.  Tsukishima went to grab his glasses, and Tadashi stood by his door.  Before the two walked into the hallway, Tsukishima pecked Tadashi on the lips making him gasp.

“Tonight, we will have a proper first kiss,” Tsukishima resolved.

Tadashi’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOOM! GUESS WHO'S BACK!
> 
> You know, there is something about this chapter I just don't like. To me it seems a bit rushed; as I was typing it up, I was trying to space it out more, but something still bugs me about it. Who knows, maybe I'm just biased. Regardless, I do have to apologize for how long it took me to post this chapter, between finals and visiting family I just didn't have enough time to type it and post it. But here we are! So as an apology I am going to finish this story, so look forward to that.


	6. Epilogue

It was a bright and sunny Sunday morning that greeted Tsukishima Akiteru.  Normally he wouldn’t have gotten up, but something told him that today was going to be a good day; plus since he was the first one up, he got first dibs on breakfast.  Akiteru smiled to himself as he thought of all the eggs he was going to eat, when he passed by Kei’s room. The door was cracked open, which was slightly unusual for his little brother.  Akiteru blamed it on Tadashi, who probably had to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, and just forgot to reclose the door as he reentered the room.  Being slightly nosy, Akiteru peered into the room, and he was not prepared for what he saw.  He saw his brother spooning his best friend.  _Was that on purpose?_ He looked for a few more moments before he left to go eat breakfast.  As he was cooking his eggs, Akiteru began to remember his conversation with Kei earlier that week _._

_“Kind of. Nii-san, what would you do if the person you’re pretty sure you’re in love with, is being harassed to the point of hurting themselves?”_

Oh.

_“A person I care about has been harassed, and I think it may have been my fault,”_

Oooh.

_“What would you do if the people harassing the one you love are girls?”_

Ooooh.

Akiteru had wrongfully assumed that Kei was talking about a girl, when in fact it was Tadashi.  It was all making sense now.  All of Kei’s vague questions were about Tadashi.  Akiteru shook his head, wondering why he didn’t see it earlier. _Well, so long as they are happy_ , Akiteru then decided that he would look up as much information about same-sex couple relationships when he finishes his breakfast.  He settled on the idea that if his baby brother or his boyfriend needed help, he would give the best advice he could.  Akiteru’s resolve gave him a smile as his finished cooking his breakfast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAANNNNNNNDDDDDDDDDD DONE! And once again Akiteru wins the 'Best Brother in the World' Award
> 
> This has been fun, and I hope you guys liked the story. To be honest, I had a slight fear that I was going to get a comment that just completely destroyed this story (my memories of writing and posting things in middle school still haunt me), but I was pleasantly surprised by all the support and sweet comments. It was because of all of you that made me want to continue and finish this story; thank you, all of you. I hope to write more stories in the future (less serious ones, and of course with happy endings), and I hope that all of you will join me during those adventures as well. Once again I can not stress enough how much all your support meant to me, so once again: Thank you.
> 
> I hope to see you all in the future, so until then, goodbye :)


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